It could be a big result for Joe Dunne’s side. For a team so often accused of lacking mental fortitude, they fought through a testing 90 minutes, showing a lot of heart in the process.

A lot was thrown at them including having two decent penalty shouts waved away, a harsh red card and a two-goal deficit against a free-scoring team, but they rallied, with Greg Taylor’s thumping late goal an apt reward for a second half in which they never truly gave up.

There have been several moments already this season labelled as ‘turning points’, but United’s performance against Bury was one that showed characteristics many questioned if they even had in them.

And that’s not to say everything was perfect. It was a point, not a win. And for most of the first half United were thoroughly outplayed. The worrying trait of conceding in batches continued and on another day two goals in three minutes would have taken the game away from them, and on another day Nicky Maynard's shot would have been a couple of inches to the left and avoided the woodwork.

But this was United’s day. A furious Abbey crowd helped no ends, letting Chris Stokes - the recipient of Paul Lewis’ elbow - know exactly what they thought of both him and referee Chris Sarginson, creating one of the best atmospheres of the season.

The hope now, of course, is that United can carry the result into Tuesday night's trip to Crewe, using the performance as a platform.

Despite struggling to deal with the slick Shakers for most of the first half, Cambridge, perhaps, could have felt aggrieved not to be in the lead early on, after what looked a nailed-on penalty was waved away by referee Sarginson after Reggie Lambe’s cross was handled by Will Aimson.

But apart from a superb Lewis chance, which was well saved from Joe Murphy, the U’s were second best.

And the importance of the chance was highlighted just four minutes later, when Danny Mayor took it around the several of U’s players before teeing up Jay O’Shea, whose first time shot found the bottom corner.

Three minutes later it was 2-0 when Nicholas Adam’s free kick was turned in by Aimson.

At this point it looked as though the U’s were dead and buried, with Bury threatening every time they got forward.

But, around five minutes from the break, the game turned. Reggie Lambe deserves a lot of credit for chasing down the ball to the byline before teeing up Jabo Ibehre, who forced a wonderful save out of keeper Murphy.

Luckily for the U’s Paul Lewis was on hand to prod it home for his second goal of the season and vital time in the game.

United were on top for the remainder of the first half, but the start of the second period stalled somewhat.

Indeed, Lewis’ second yellow - harshly given after what looked like a fair attempt to win the ball - certainly raised the temperatures on the sideline and in the stands, but it didn’t necessarily raise the quality and the game lost its structure.

Things got back on track around the hour mark though, with George Maris’ deflected effort being headed off the line by Callum McFadzean, while Ibehre was the inadvertent recipient of a Leon Davies cross', which was well held by Murphy.

Among United’s half chances Bury had the best of the second period to that point, with Maynard steering Byron Moore’s cross onto the woodwork.

And, just as United were punished for not being clinical enough in the first half, so too were Bury. Substitute Manny Osadebe picked out George Taft, whose cushioned header with met by Taylor’s traction engine of a left foot to restore parity.

In Dunne's words, the game descended into a basketball match after that, with Gary Deegan trying an effort from a similar distance as Taylor's goal soon after, before everyone in amber had to grit their teeth and defend for their lives, with Jake Carroll and Taft among those who made important blocks.

But, after a seemingly never ending amount of extra time, the referee finally blew for full time to confirm United’s point.